Football is a sport riddled with myths, and among the many false truisms is the fixture list. After all, isn’t it just ultimately a case of each team having to play every other opponent both home and away during the course of the campaign?
But, as in so many other aspects of life, timing is often everything. And the order in which those games are scheduled can make a huge difference in terms of forming perceptions and gaining – or, indeed, losing – momentum.
That can be seen from the opening few months of the season for Arne Slot as the new Liverpool coach.
There is little doubt Slot could have been handed a more difficult opening few weeks to the campaign, with the trip to Manchester United in the third match – in which the Reds sauntered to a 3-0 triumph – the only assignment that beforehand prompted any great trepidation.
The next raft of fixtures, though, were more tricky, with a visit to Arsenal and home games against Chelsea, Brighton and Aston Villa seen as being a barometer of Liverpool’s potential this season.
That they accrued 10 points from 12 to presently stand five points clear of champions Manchester City at the Premier League summit underlines their strong start was no fluke, the 1-0 home defeat to Nottingham Forest still their only reverse.
